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I want to run an electrical cord into a watertight plastic container. I have used silicone sealant for this in the past, but it just doesn't bond with plastics as well as it would with glass, and an accidental tug can break it loose. What are some other cheap methods of sealing the spot where the cord passes through? Also, the cord is not perfectly round, but shaped like a flattened oval. code:
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Jan 23, 2008 15:54
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Thanks, I might try one of those after another run around the hardware store. I've actually been meaning to pick up both for other reasons, so it wouldn't hurt. It just seems like there should be some common part for things like that, but I haven't found it yet. Like a tiny plastic bulkhead fitting with a soft gasket that can be tightened down around the cord. If I find a way to rig something from other parts, I'll be sure to share it.
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Jan 23, 2008 16:57
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PurDunamis posted:cable gland Perfect. That's almost exactly what I pictured, but my web searches were turning up entirely different things. Thank you very much.
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Jan 23, 2008 21:51
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I'm getting ready to paint some very old plaster walls - about 100 years old if they are actually original. They had no paint on them in the first place, just many layers of paper, so removing everything has left me with clean plaster that's in relatively good condition. What type of primer is best for walls like this? I've seen conflicting advice on whether to go with oil-based, latex-based, or even other sealing products before applying primer. Here's a picture from after the paper was removed (before cleaning):  Click here for the full 940x705 image. And here's some of the wallpaper that was on there. This wasn't even the bottom layer:  Click here for the full 940x705 image.
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Feb 4, 2009 21:23
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Gas appliance repair question: I have a natural gas dryer left in my house by the previous owner. It's a Whirlpool LGB6000KQ1, fairly new looking. When I first tried to run it, the drum would spin and air came through the vent, but there was no heat and the ignitor did not glow. I cleaned it out and started testing sensors, and they were all fine except for the flame sensor, which showed no continuity and rattled when I moved it around. I ordered a replacement, installed it, and the dryer worked properly for about week. Now the ignitor just keeps glowing when I turn it on, and the gas valve never opens. Did my new flame sensor die after just a week, or is there anything else that could cause that behavior? Even if I had bad valve coils, it seems like the ignitor would still switch off after it gets warm enough.
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Mar 30, 2009 20:07
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Fire Storm posted:I have a similar model, and I found that I had a bad relay. I tested EVERY loving component, all were good (according to the diagnostic chart), the drum would spin but no fire. I ran out of stuff to test, so I tried the relay. BINGO! Thanks, I didn't realize that chart was hidden in there. Hopefully the new flame sensor I bought didn't get fried by something up the line, if that's even possible.
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Mar 31, 2009 04:01
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Fire Storm posted:Get a multimeter, grab that chart (mine was behind the main panel (the one with the dials)) and test every component that you can. Update on the dryer. The wiring diagram helped me rule out everything but the valve coils, ignitor and flame sensor, and it turned out that the main coil was shorted - read zero ohms on the multimeter when it's supposed to be over 1000. It's working again with a replacement.
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Apr 3, 2009 18:54
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And buy an actual caulking gun if you don't have one already. It's only a few bucks, and you'll never be able to put down a smooth bead with those mini squeeze tubes they sell unless you're some kind of artist. Wet your finger before you run it down a seam. If there's tile involved, smooth the seam in both directions so you don't leave little gaps wherever you go over the grout. But that's about all you should need. Caulking gun, one more tube of caulk than you think you'll need, and a fresh blade to clean out the old stuff.
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Apr 10, 2009 04:53
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jackpot posted:That putty-looking stuff scrapes off with my fingernails, but other than that I don't know what it is. I sprayed a little WD40 around there in the hopes of working its way into the threads and loosening it up a little, but it did nothing. The putty-looking stuff is (I hope) thread sealant. It's probably doing its job and preventing stuff leaking through the threads. Try using a pair of pipe wrenches if you can buy or borrow them, because I can't imagine channel locks giving you a very good grip on that. You're probably doing just as much squeezing as turning. 
gross fucked around with this message at 16:42 on Apr 12, 2009 |
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Apr 12, 2009 16:38
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somethingcool posted:You said drywall, but I'm assuming you meant plaster if the place is really that old. That's actually good if you want to peel off the wallpaper, because plaster can take a lot of abuse from steam and scraping compared to drywall. I'm almost done peeling the second floor in a 1903 house down to plaster, and the method that worked best for me was to use one of those paper tiger things (or whatever you call them - the plastic shell with spiky wheels on the underside) to punch holes all over the place, and then use a steamer and a scraper to take it off. Scoring it with a utility knife also works. The real bitch about my place was that there was a layer of latex paint on top of all the paper layers, which blocked the steam from getting underneath any place I didn't put holes in the surface ahead of time. If you only have paper, and it's paper paper instead of the vinyl stuff people liked to use in the 80s and 90s, you should find that it comes right off in one pass after you run a steamer over it. Edit: Forgot to mention, I wouldn't paint over it because you don't know what's under there. Just a little bit of moisture in there from a neighbor's plumbing problem or whatever, and you might find sections of your wall peeling off. The paint itself could even do it. gross fucked around with this message at 22:32 on May 1, 2009 |
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May 1, 2009 22:26
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Dandy Cat posted:I'm working on painting my condo right now, and I'm having a bit of a rough time with it. I have the living room painted in a beautiful red color that I really like a lot, but I'm having trouble getting the paint to look even on the corners of the wall where it's harder to roll. We applied up to 6 coats of the paint on the corners of the wall and it still is lighter than the rest. Is that just a caveat of painting with red paint or is there something I can do to make my life a little easier. Also, when painting, what is the proper technique to paint with a brush. Every area I paint with a brush comes out looking uneven and sloppy, and I really do want this place to look nice as I kind of want to live there for a long time. I wasn't even aware there are different knaps(?) of rollers, until I read an article today. I'm finishing up the trim with a white paint, but it's very hard to keep the white off the red on the wall. I suppose I should have picked something a little easier for my first ever home improvement job, but I'm still excited about it none the less and I'm looking for a few pointers! Guess it's too late, but if you're going from a light to dark color, it's a lot easier to have a can of primer tinted to a similar shade and put a coat of that down first. I just painted dark blue over my kid's bright pink room, and it's looking great after gray-blue primer plus two coats. For the corners - buy a decent brush if you're using a cheap one, and feather the paint out instead of just going up and down. Set the tip of the brush flat into the corner and sweep it out horizontally after you have some paint down, and you should see more even coverage.
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Jun 2, 2009 05:19
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lemonlime posted:Does this sound about right, or am I forgetting something? Since I've never installed a dishwasher before I'd appreciate any advice. That should do it, assuming the power, water, and drain connectors on the new dishwasher are all the same as the old one. There's a chance you'll need to run out and pick up an adapter if something doesn't match. If your hot water shutoff valve is difficult to close or leaks when off, this is also a good time to shut off the main water supply and replace it.
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Jun 22, 2009 21:00
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Mistress Mouse posted:I was thinking about sanding as much of it down as possible, then priming with Kilz, and painting with latex paint. Then I wonder, should I use latex Kilz or oil Kilz? The Kilz latex should work, as long as the paint that's on there isn't cracking or peeling. Just scrub the walls with some warm soapy water first to remove any grime. I would only go with oil-based primer or paint if if you have major water stains to seal in since it's such a hassle to clean up. Edit: I should say that you'll probably find some varying answers on this if you look around. I can only tell you that I've used a flat latex over oil-based primer with great results, and also painted over some outdoor woodwork on two different houses with latex-based primer after scraping off patchy areas of old oil-based paint. There may be certain combinations that don't work as well. gross fucked around with this message at 19:54 on Jul 8, 2009 |
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Jul 8, 2009 19:41
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Brown Moses posted:I've been stripping the wallpaper from my house, and because it's about 30+ years old it's taken the thin top layer for plaster (about 1-2mm thick) with it in some areas. How difficult would it to be patch these areas up and paint over them? Is it something I could pick up fairly quickly, as it looks like if I start I'll have plenty of little patches to cover up, so I'll get the practise I need. Yep, just buy some drywall joint compound and patch it up. If you're only doing small patches on flat surfaces (no corners or anything like that), a tub of premixed compound, a ~3"-wide putty knife, and a sanding sponge or paper should be all you need. Just make sure to buy sanding-type compound (some cannot be sanded), and prime everything before you paint it. If you have larger areas to patch, you might want to consider buying a wide taping knife as well. The smoother you can apply the joint compound, the less sanding you'll have to do to make it look nice. gross fucked around with this message at 20:37 on Jul 10, 2009 |
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Jul 10, 2009 20:30
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I'm finally down to remodeling the kitchen in my 100+ year-old house. I ripped out all of the excess flooring material, which was a big sandwich of carpet, glue, self-adhesive tile, and linoleum flooring on 4x8' sheets of plywood. Underneath all of that is what I'm assuming to be the original floor: Click here for the full 940x705 image.  Click here for the full 705x940 image. Should I even bother trying to sand some of this down to see how it looks? The boards are actually flat and smooth without any large gaps or rot, but there's that spotty old varnish all around the edges. It almost looks like someone else sanded the entire center of the room a long time ago before saying "gently caress it" and nailing down some plywood. Tell me to forget about it so I can put down some nice ceramic tile.
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May 4, 2010 04:14
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Flay Minion posted:Can't tell you that. The floor looks like it is in great shape and properly refinished would add value to the home beyond tile. I guess the least I can do is rent a sander and see how well it cleans up. I definitely wouldn't mind having some extra money for cabinets if it works out.
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May 5, 2010 03:04
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Flay Minion posted:It's a lot like work but worth it Thanks for the advice. If I sound like I'm out of patience, it's because I've been working on and off for the last year removing wallpaper and repairing all of the plaster upstairs. Of all the weird crap I've had to clean up so far, I still can't believe that someone decided to wallpaper the drat ceiling and then paint over it in four different rooms. That's a different topic, though. I will try what you suggest for the floor.
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May 5, 2010 05:28
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All of the exposed flooring in the rest of the house is narrow boards of pine, though the stuff upstairs looks like a lower quality (more knots, less consistent grain): Click here for the full 940x705 image. Edit: maybe this did deserve its own thread.
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May 5, 2010 22:59
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What can the use of T50-type staples tell me about the age of remodeling work? I've read that the Arrow T50 staple gun was invented in the 1950s, but I haven't been able to find out whether or not this type of staple existed before then in any form.
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Nov 13, 2011 17:51
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kid sinister posted:Well, now that I looked up what an Arrow T50 staple was, I can tell you that all the original NM cable in my house is attached with them, and it was built in 1956. What exactly are you trying to determine the age of? The staples were used to attach 12" ceiling tiles in a couple of rooms in my house. I already have someone stopping over to sample them for asbestos, but I'm still curious about when they were installed, and any general details that can help me figure out the age of the work in the other rooms. The house is like an archaeological dig since the previous owners liked to layer over everything one room at a time instead of replacing it.
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Nov 14, 2011 05:50
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stubblyhead posted:My house is exactly the same way. When my wife bought it before she and I got together, there were 4-5 layers of flooring in the bathroom, including at least one of astroturf. We have cedar shake siding, like many of the houses in our neighborhood... underneath which is clapboard siding that's in great shape. They didn't take it off, just put the cedar on top. The kitchen has goddamn carpeting in it, with at least one or two layers of asbestos tiling underneath, with beautiful hardwood floors on the bottom. Each layer is firmly affixed to the layer below, so we've just left this hideous red carpeting in the kitchen. There's a small amusement park a couple hundred miles from here, and they have the same carpeting in their haunted house. Let that sink in for a minute. Yes, not long ago I refinished the wood floor under the plywood, under the two layers of tiles, under the carpet in our kitchen. Thankfully there was only one layer of old ceiling tiles above the ceiling tiles. There are certain internet memes I can no longer enjoy. Wade Wilson posted:I'm thinking really hard about this package on Best Buy and saying "gently caress you!" to satellite TV. If you want to halfass it before spending any money, try one of the DIY coat hanger designs first to see if you can pick up anything at all. For some frequencies (lower-end UHF) they're actually better than a store-bought indoor antenna. I've been using one on my porch since the digital transition, and I can pick up a few local channels from about 30 miles away. gross fucked around with this message at 04:47 on Nov 22, 2011 |
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Nov 22, 2011 04:45
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